The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the production and manipulation of plain cigarettes or analogous rod-shaped articles of unit length which constitute or form part of smokers' products. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in a method and in an apparatus for converting a continuous wrapped filler rod into a succession of discrete rod-shaped articles or sections of prescribed length.
It is already known to repeatedly sever the leader of a continuous cigarette rod which is produced in a cigarette rod making machine so that the rod yields a single file of discrete plain cigarettes of unit length. It is also known to convert such file of cigarettes into a row wherein the cigarettes move sideways (i.e., at right angles to their respective axes) and to deliver the thus obtained row to storage, to a packing machine or to a filter tipping machine wherein the cigarettes are united with filters to form filter cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length. The procedure is or can be similar in connection with the production of plain or filter tipped cigarillos or cigars. For the sake of simplicity, the following discussion of the state of art will deal with the production and manipulation of cigarettes.
In accordance with other prior proposals, the cigarette rod is converted into a file of plain cigarettes of multiple unit length. Such cigarettes of multiple unit length are thereupon caused to form a row and are subdivided into cigarettes of unit length subsequent to formation of the row. Reference may be had to German Pat. No. 361,079 to Creuzburg. If the nature of the cigarettes demands that one or more cigarettes of unit length which are obtained by severing successive cigarettes of multiple unit length must be tip turned, such tip turning (inversion through 180 degrees) is effected in such a way that the inverted cigarettes are placed on top of or between the non-inverted cigarettes. Reference may be had to U.S. Pat. No. 3,000,488 to Rowlands. For example, such tip turning of one row is necessary if the cigarettes of unit length form two rows and the nature or positioning of imprints on the wrappers of cigarettes is such that the orientation of imprints on all cigarettes of a cigarette pack is the same only if the cigarettes of one row are tip turned prior to merging them with the cigarettes of the other row. Tip turning is also necessary if the articles are mouthpiece cigarettes. A drawback of tip turning is that it subjects the respective cigarettes to pronounced mechanical stresses and invariably entails at least some losses of tobacco at the ends. Moreover, tip turning can slow down the processing or manipulation of cigarettes and can cause contamination of their wrappers. Problems in connection with tip turning are particularly acute when the cigarettes are produced at a high speed, e.g., in excess of 7000 per minute which is the expected minimum output of a modern high-speed cigarette rod making machine. At such elevated speeds, losses in tobacco at the ends of plain cigarettes can be quite pronounced, even if the cigarettes are manufactured with so-called dense ends. The particles of tobacco which escape at the ends of cigarettes not only cause a reduction of the quality of the ultimate products but they also contaminate the machine and the surrounding area.